Toxic
by Safaia
Summary: Ten Years Gone Series Part 5/6 Supernatural AU Lydia didn't have to explain herself to anyone, she was the King of the Crossroads, and she wasn't about to start now.


**Toxic**

Lydia dug through her bag to try and find her nail filer. She thought about asking Jackson for help but he seemed to be sun bathing with his head in her lap. Lydia was halfway tempted to make some sort of joke about a lizard soaking up the sun but she didn't really want to deal with Jackson whining. He was interesting, a mutated shifter that took the form a lizard used for revenge, but when Lydia took his master Jackson latched onto her. Jackson didn't talk about his time under Matt but Lydia knew about most of it. Matt sold his soul for the opportunity to get revenge against the people that nearly killed him as a kid. Said revenge came in the form of Jackson and his poison claws. Matt had tried to fight off the hell hounds with Jackson but there wasn't anything on the Earth that could stop a hell hound. Once Matt was dead Jackson took control of himself and Lydia had to admit that he was interesting to have around at the very least.

"It would be in their best interest," Jackson said coming back to their conversation from a few minutes ago.

"I'm well aware of what would be in Stiles and Derek's best interests but those two idiots don't seem to care," Lydia said as she found her nail filer.

"Which is why you're going out of your way to try and prove a point." Jackson stretched and opened his eyes to look at Lydia. "Is that why you tested them?" Lydia didn't have to explain herself to anyone, she was the King of the Crossroads, and she wasn't about to start now. Several weeks ago Lydia hired a trickster to pull Derek and Stiles into a fantasy world to see if their feelings for each other were genuine. Stiles always had an obsession with werewolves because of his friend when he was a human and Lydia just wanted to see if this was more of that. If it was then she was fairly sure she could convince Stiles to leave Derek and she could pull a few strings to keep him safe from the Pit.

"I don't need to explain my intentions to you," Lydia said and Jackson rolled his eyes.

"Any idiot can see that those two are bonded now. I think you just like experimenting to see how hard you can pull something before it breaks," Jackson said. Lydia would disagree with him if it wasn't the truth. The bond that formed between Derek and Stiles was fascinating and unlike anything she had ever seen before. Perhaps she was a little curious to see how much pressure something forged in the depths of hell could take.

A black cloud surfaced and Lydia narrowed her eyes. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with one of her minions right now who couldn't handle simple deals on their own. Lydia had much more important things to do that didn't involve taking the soul of someone that can't deal with the fact that bad things often happen to good people. She was about to tell them to go away when she realized the name of the person that was at the crossroads. Lydia waved her minion off and sighed heavily.

"What?" Jackson asked.

"I have to go deal with something. It shouldn't take too long." Jackson moved and Lydia vanished to the crossroads in the middle of Nevada. When she appeared the sun was high and hot in the sky. There wasn't another person for miles and she flashed a smile with plenty of teeth at Laura Hale.

"Miss. Hale, I think you misunderstand what the crossroads is for," Lydia said. Laura Hale was an alpha and the difference in power between her and Derek was interesting.

"I have some questions and I think you're the one only one who knows the answer," Laura replied. Lydia narrowed her eyes at the vial of holy water in one hand and the bag of salt in the other. Laura was prepared for this.

"The crossroads isn't a telephone for you to call me whenever you want," Lydia snapped.

"Who is responsible for forcing my brother to watch his family die again?" Laura asked clearly not even a little afraid of who she was talking to. "And what did they want to find out?"

"I'm afraid that information is classified but you can file an inquiry with management if you'd like," Lydia replied sweetly.

"What are Stiles' intentions to my brother?" Laura asked and her eyes flashed red.

"Stiles doesn't have any intentions when it comes to your brother, Laura. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be split up as soon as possible though." Lydia crossed her arms and examined her nails.

"Why would it be better if they broke up?" Laura asked and clearly this conversation was not going to end anytime soon. Laura had questions and seemed to think if she asked them enough times she was going to get answers.

"If you try to call on me via the crossroads again I'm going to assume you have something worth selling and there's only one thing I value," Lydia warned.

"Lydia," Laura said just as Lydia was about to vanish. "what's happening in Beacon Hills?" Lydia didn't answer; instead she vanished and left Laura standing on the crossroads alone. Jackson blinked when she arrived and frowned deeply.

"You look annoyed," he said.

"Because I am annoyed," Lydia replied. "This bond between Stiles and Derek is much more annoying than I thought it would be."

"What are you going to do about it?" Jackson asked. Lydia tapped her heel on the ground and offered a hand of Jackson. She pulled him to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"I have an idea but I'll need your help," Lydia said and when Jackson smiled his teeth were sharp.

* * *

Stiles and Derek were worryingly easy to find. Lydia wondered how two normally intelligent creatures allowed themselves to get so careless. She stood in the dark alley and read a book as she waited for them to join her. Several minutes later Stiles and Derek stumbled out of the back door of a bar laughing like they didn't have a care in the world. Stiles pinned Derek to a wall and they began to kiss. Lydia has known Stiles for far too long and it was sort of like watching her brother make out. Stiles moved to Derek's neck and Lydia waved when Derek opened his eyes and saw her.

"Uh, Stiles?" Derek said.

"Whatever it is I don't care," Stiles said. Lydia wasn't entirely sure if Stiles was talking to Derek or her. She cleared her throat but Stiles wasn't paying attention. She really didn't have time for this so she walked over and pulled Stiles away from Derek by his ear with her left hand. "Ow, ow, Lydia, what the hell?"

"You shouldn't ignore me," Lydia said as she lead them away from the crowded streets and around the corner to a alley where no one would look for them. Derek followed them like the good dog that he was and Lydia had to contain herself from her eyes rolling straight out of her skull. "I know about the trickster and everything that happened between you two." Derek froze and Stiles managed to free himself from her hold on his ear.

"How do you know about that?" Stiles asked.

"Because I was the one that hired him," Lydia replied. The reaction from both of them was immediate; if Lydia was a lesser being she would have been afraid by the fury in Stiles and Derek's eyes. She wasn't afraid though; if anything she was amused.

"Why did you make us go through that?" Derek asked. What he was really asking was 'how could you make me watch my family die again?' but that was a technicality at best.

"I had to confirm the bond between the two of you," Lydia said.

"You could have asked," Stiles snapped.

"You had no right," Derek said and Lydia laughed.

"I had no right? I can do whatever I want considering how easy it would be for me to turn you two in." Lydia looked between the two of them; she could practically see the bond and she wanted to see what it looked like when it snapped. Stiles stalked forward so they were inches apart. Even in her heels Stiles had several inches on her but he was far from imposing these days.

"You don't want to threaten us," Stiles warned. Lydia snatched his arm with her right hand and dug her nails into his skin hard enough to draw blood.

"It would be wise if you didn't forget your place," Lydia replied. She watched as Stiles opened his mouth to say something but it got caught in his throat. He looked down at her nails in his arm and his eyes widened. Lydia could feel the muscles in Stiles' host body starting to seize.

"Stiles, what's happening?" Derek asked. Lydia released Stiles' arm and he collapsed to the ground. Derek growled like he was going to attack her but Jackson was faster. He scratched the back of Derek's neck with his claws before Derek could defend himself. Jackson circled back toward Lydia as Derek fell to the ground paralyzed by Jackson's poison.

"Thank you Jackson," Lydia said.

"I knew you kept those sharp nails for a reason. Turns out they're just for a cheap shot at poisoning someone with your boyfriends venom," Stiles spat out. Jackson hissed and took a step forward like he was going to attack Stiles but Lydia held up a hand.

"I don't think you two understand the position you're in," Lydia said as she walked around their bodies. They were only a few feet apart but it didn't do them any good right now. Jackson's poison was in their blood and even with their healing it would take some time for the paralysis to pass. "You two are becoming far too famous for your own good. There are so many creatures out there itching for a chance to kill one or both of you. Your bond isn't exactly a secret anymore and people will exploit it for their own gains. It really would be in your best interest if you just separated."

"He's safer with me," Stiles said.

"We're safer together," Derek corrected. Lydia raised an eyebrow at Derek and put one of her heels to his neck. It wouldn't take much for her to put the tip of the shoe through Derek's neck and if he bled out faster than he could heal then this would solve many problems.

"Get away from him," Stiles said darkly. Lydia knew that tone because she had heard it before. She heard it when Stiles used to speak about Saul and how he would kill the demon that damned him to hell. He used to speak like that when he would leave pools of blood in his wake as he killed his way to King. She also knew Stiles and how that tone against her was worthless.

"What are you going to do to stop me?" she asked because she knew the answer already. She worked under Stiles for far too long and she knew exactly what he was capable of when it came to her. She was his protege and the exception to every rule.

"I'll kill you." Stiles said and Lydia would have been lying if she said that didn't surprise her. Stiles never raised a hand to her and he said he never would. They were the closest either of them had to friends and Stiles trusted her. Lydia never thought he would go that far for anyone. She stared at him and tried to see any lie in his eyes but there wasn't any.

"And what about you?" Lydia asked as she eased the pressure off of Derek's throat. "What are you willing to do?"

"I'll kill you and just about anyone that tries to hurt Stiles," Derek stated as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Derek meant every word of that, he was willing to kill for Stiles, and that was interesting. Lydia removed her heel and took a step back to look between them. Despite the fact that they were both paralyzed Lydia could see them reaching for each other like it was second nature. Their bond was stronger than she ever thought it could be and the lengths that they were willing to go for one another was fascinating. Jackson moved behind her and placed a hand on the small of her back.

"It'll wear off soon," Jackson whispered into her ear low enough that not even Derek's hearing could pick it up. "and I'm not too keen on going toe to toe with the two of them after hearing that." Lydia nodded because she was inclined to agree.

"You two should cover your tracks better. It was far too easy for me to find you and unless you want to see what it's like to kill for one another you need to get better at hiding," Lydia explained. "Something interesting is happening back home." Lydia took Jackson's hand and made them both vanish just as Stiles was struggling to his feet. They reappeared in the same park they were in earlier that day only now the moon was high in the sky.

"Was it really wise to leave the two of them like that? They might come after you for threatening them," Jackson said and he remained close like he could protect her.

"They have more important things to worry about," Lydia replied. "That bond is much stronger than I thought it was. Perhaps the trickster came to the wrong conclusion in his experiment. Maybe they'll be okay."

"And what about Beacon Hills?" Jackson said. "Are we going to get involved in that?" Lydia shook her head and looked out into the darkness. She could feel the pull of someone at the crossroads ready to sell their soul but she ignored it. Better to let one of the minions take care of it right now. "Are they going to survive?" Jackson asked and Lydia didn't respond. She hated not knowing even more than she hated being wrong and she had already misjudged the bond. Lydia didn't want to be wrong about Stiles and Derek surviving as well.

* * *

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